FAME AND GLORY is the new favourite for this Saturday’s Emirates Airline Champion Stakes after the confirmation of his participation.
With previous favourite Zacinto having been pulled out of the race, Aidan O’Brien’s Irish Derby hero will bid for compensation at Newmarket following his sixth-placed finish in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe last weekend.
O’Brien is also expected to run pacemaker Set Sail in the 1m2f Group One at Headquarters.
Fame And Glory, who is Paddy Power’s 11-10 favourite for the Champion Stakes, has been doing well since his exertions at Longchamp and O’Brien said: “Fame And Glory will go to the Champion Stakes at Newmarket, with Set Sail also a possible runner.
“Fame And Glory came out of the Arc very well and we are happy with him since.
“Things didn’t work out for him in the Arc and we are looking forward to him running next weekend.”
Zacinto is now expected to head to next month’s Breeders’ Cup after it was confirmed he wouldn’t run in the Champion Stakes.
The Dansili colt was an excellent second to Rip Van Winkle in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot last month and he had been at the head of the market for the Champion ever since. But the Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt will now head for the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita on November 7.
Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to owner Prince Khalid Abdullah, said: “Zacinto will not be running in the Champion Stakes and will instead head for the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
“The horse is fine but we have decided to go to the Breeders’ Cup with him instead.
“At this stage, it is likely we will still have two runners in the Champion Stakes in Twice Over and Doctor Fremantle.”
One horse who will line up against Fame And Glory is Marcus Tregoning’s Mawatheeq.
The trainer is in bullish mood about the Danzig colt’s chances after he impressed when winning the Cumberland Lodge Stakes at Ascot last week.
It is a step up to Group One company, but connections are expected to pay the supplamen-tary fee of £30,000 today.
The Lambourn trainer won both the Cumberland Lodge and Champion Stakes with Nayef in 2001. And he said of Matwatheeq: “He was very good at Ascot and he is much the same as he was then. Obviously it’s a jump up but he is ready for a jump up and he’s a fresh horse.
“It’s obviously the same as what we did with Nayef and I think he’ll go to Newmarket with a good chance.
“He’s bred very similarly to Nayef so in that respect they are not too different.
“Physically they are quite different as Nayef had so much scope and huge stride, where as this horse is rather different but he’s very strong and has a good turn of foot.
“With Zacinto out that is one less to worry about but quite honestly, we’d be quite happy to take anything on at this stage as he’s in great form.”
KIEREN FALLON has again taken advantage of Jamie Spencer’s absence at Newmarket by picking up the ride on the Philip Hobbs-trained Fair Along in the totesport.com Cesarewitch on Saturday.
With Spencer suspended, Fallon is already down to partner Sariska in the Champion Stakes.
And now he will ride Fair Along, who was third in the same race in 2007 and is currently a 16-1 chance with most firms.
Hobbs said: “He’s good, and he’s going to run next Saturday.
“Jamie Spencer is banned, so Kieren Fallon has agreed to ride him.”
TODAY’S NAP: Stevie Gee (4.20pm Salisbury).
